"Bend of the Limb" Carved Fruitwood Spoons by Denton Middleton

At Work

About Me

I have worked with wood for over forty years, and I currently make hand-carved fruit wood spoons (examples of which are featured on this blog).
My work is currently featured at WYSIWYG located in Staunton,Virginia;and at Thomas Jefferson's Monticello in Charlottesville,Virginia. My work has previously appeared in Gallery 234 Staunton, Virginia, Spruce Creek Gallery in Nellysford, Virginia and the Virginia Fall Foliage Festival and the Artisans Center of Virginia in Waynesboro, Virginia as well as in the Englers Block in Branson, Missouri and Silver Dollar City in the Branson, Missouri area.

A mixed blessing for farmers as the pods are good cattle feed but the thorns are hard on tractor tires! The wood is exceptionally durable and hard and used for fence posts. In the past it was used for pegs for log cabins, barns and electric line insulators. The contrasting colors draw me to this wood.

Monday, December 10, 2007

The Spring blossoms are a treat and the Fall fruit delicious. You will notice the wood is rich in color, dense and carves like no other. My favorite wood !The letter opener at the bottom of the picture is made of wild plum.

There are at least five varieties of maple growing in North America. The color of the Sugar Maple in the Fall is most everyone’s favorite. Maple also gives us syrup, furniture, flooring and...shade. Commercial markets shy away from it’s mineral streaks but carvers and turners embrace them. Picture shows a maple spoon laying over two apple wood spoons.

The largest member of the rose family in the U.S. The wood has a beautiful smooth grain and ranks second only to black walnut as a cabinet wood. The color continues to darken with age and exposure to light. It takes on a blood red color.